Oh incidentally

[chocolatepot]

I can't stop thinking about the possibility that early mantuas were worn over uncovered stays, hence the many stomachers with nonfunctional cross-lacing on them that might have been worn to give the appearance of a fancy set of stays. And then in the middle of the century there are plenty of women whose kerchiefs completely cover where stomachers might be that I wonder if maybe they aren't wearing stomachers either.

Maybe this is one of those things that are obvious to everyone else, but nobody seems to state it out loud so I don't know.